End of Summer?

image found here

My mom called me yesterday to see how things are going.  We were just home from our weekly breakfast-at-the-park outing, and I was simultaneously changing into dry clothing (we'd gone to a spray park), changing babies, talking to her, and hanging up damp towels.

It was a rather busy moment.

As I answered my mom's questions I found myself describing the school year activities that are starting as of today (really?  on August 4th??!!??), and I concluded my list with, "Already the school year is beginning and our days are no longer our own."

That unconsciously uttered phrase caught my conscious attention.

Our days are no longer our own.

I feel rather sad, tired, dispirited when I think of starting school.

I am careful, careful, careful about crafting a schedule that is a blessing rather than a curse to us.  I take seriously the guarding of free time and family time.  I have pushed against the cultural tide of filling the calendar with too many activities for years now.

But my older children are getting older--jobs, outside classes, social activities are an important part of their growth.  These scheduled items definitely get in the way of my comfort, but a 16-year-old's world is necessarily different from a 6-year-old's.

Is it growing pains?

Is it just that I'm not ready for summer to end?

Is it the answer to a prayer I've been offering about whether or not to join a once a week homeschool "forest school" for Nature Angel and Little Princess?  (Oh!  How they want to do it!  And it sounds so very, very simple and joyful in theory.)

Perhaps it is all of the above.

I am thinking, pondering, continuing to pray.

Should our days be our own? 
What is wisdom for my particular family?
What will bring us joy and satisfaction and growth?

I don't know yet.

But I trust in that God who loves us all that He will teach me and lead me in His wisdom.

(Even if it means putting off the start of our school year for a while.)

Comments

  1. JudyAugust 4, 2016 at 9:25 PM

    I trust in that God too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. CarolAugust 6, 2016 at 4:24 AM

    I think life does get more complicated with a spread of ages. Like you said, a 16-year-old's world is necessarily different from a 6-year-old's. I don't know that there's any easy answer but just wanted to say I understand what you mean!

    ReplyDelete
  3. CamieAugust 6, 2016 at 10:03 PM

    I think most moms can relate as their families go through different seasons of life. It's always good to trust in God.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Happy Homeschool MomAugust 9, 2016 at 6:52 AM

    I think every family wrestles with these questions. It can be so hard to find a good balance. Older childrens needs are so much different then younger and in our area that are very few options to meet homeschool teenager needs. It is hard. I keep praying for wisdom.

    The fall is my hardest time of year, especially the first few weeks of September. We have so much outside stuff going on and the days are definitely not our own. But they are important worthwhile things to the children. I just focus on one day at a time while remembering the extreme busyness only lasts for a few weeks. It feels less overwhelming for me that way.

    I am not ready for summer to end. We usually are starting to get back to our regular schedule by now. I am not planning on starting for a few more weeks.

    ReplyDelete
  5. DiannaAugust 9, 2016 at 10:09 AM

    It is so hard to balance the needs of everyone, especially a wide spread of ages, as I'm just beginning to find out. I hope you will find the balance you are seeking—and I'm sure you will, with God's help. Bless you.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Anne's Day in the Life: 17, 16, 12, 10, 9, 8, 8, 7, 5, & 5

Image
This is my crew last summer--the day we said goodbye to Pixie as she headed off to college. I actually have all 12 of my children home right now. Rose Red is nearly 20, graduated from our homeschool a year and a half ago, lives at home, and is working as a server at Applebee's as she tries to understand what it means to be an adult. Pixie is newly 18, graduated from our homeschool almost a year ago, is a dance major at BYUI, and is spending her off-track semester working full-time in the 1-year-old room at a daycare. These two still are part of our family days, and their schedules directly impact the rest of us, but I am no longer responsible for their day-to-day educational needs. The remaining 10 are still under my educational supervision.  Among these 10 children we are schooling while we cope with anxiety, depression, FASD, ADHD, DMDD, ODD, ASD, PTSD, and Intellectual Disability. Here is a February Wednesday in our lives. 5:04 am :  Sir Walter Scott's a...
Read more

A Week, Briefly (Summer is not over)

Image
Last August I was not ready for school to start, but I did it anyway because I thought I should. And in September I had mental health crisis of the most serious kind. This August I am not ready for school to start. And I'm honoring that. However, I am ready to document brief moments of the beautiful learning that my kids engage in when I'm not running school. This week Rose Red is in Florida at a surfing camp.  She's with a sweet friend.  I could not be happier for her to have this experience away from home, at the beach, out-of-doors, physically active, and just plain cool. As far as I'm concerned, this is a quarter of a credit of P.E. The rest of us are at home.  My teens are reveling in their last days of bizarre teen sleeping schedules before early morning seminary begins next week. Pixie has been working on memorizing the dances she's choreographed for our dance team.  She'll be teaching the 10-12 year olds and dancing with the 12-17 year o...
Read more

I Had a Birthday

Image
 I am now 52 years old. My children are ages 9, 9, 11, 12, 12, 13, 14, 17, 20, 21, 22, 24. I have been homeschooling for over 20 years. Prior to that, I was a public school teacher (middle school English, K-3 special ed, and K-12 substitute). I find myself feeling very reflective about self, family, home, spiritual growth, marriage, goals, wishes, dreams, etc. Rather than try to put my mental ramblings into reasonable, readable sentences, I'll say this:  It's been a wild ride, and I'm grateful for the life I've lived thus far. I feel very aware of how few homeschooling years remain to me. Oh!  How I want to make them count! This week I did a rather good job at making memories with my children. The teens and I continued The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and our American Literature text.  The best moment of the week was reading The Declaration of Independence from beginning to end.  I cried. (Just a little) The kids (I read it aloud while the younger kids w...
Read more